Safety-fender for street-cars



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

W. B. HEYWOOD.

SAFETY FENDER FOR STREET CARS.

-N0. 600,224. Patented Mar. 8, 1898;

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-SheetQ. .W. B. HEYWOOD.

SAFETY FENDER FOR STREET CARS.

No. 600,224. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

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I v H THE M'JRRIS PETERS CD PNQ'YOJJTMO WASHINGTON D C NlT STATES 5 ATENl rrrcn.

lVILLIAM l3. HEYVVOOD, OF GUALALA, CALIFORNIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 600,224, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed September 17, 1897. Serial No. 652,071. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM B. I-Invwoon, a citizen of the United States, residing at Gualala, in the county of Mendocino and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Fenders for Street-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its object the production of an improved fender of that class or description which is designed to grasp or seize and hold the person who is struck by the fender while in motion; and the invention consists in certain novel parts and combination of parts producing an improved safety-fender, as hereinafter fully described and pointed out, reference being had in the following description to the drawings that accompany and form part of this specification.

Referring to the said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of an automatic car-fender embodying my said invention and showing the device in position on the front end of the car. Fig. 2 is a plan or top View of the device. Fig. 2 is a detail of the ratchet and dog on one. of the slide-bars that locks the slide-bar when it is pushed in. Fig. 3 is a front elevation with the ends of several of the slide-bars cut off to show parts of the construction behind the cushioned heads. Fig. at is a plan or top view of a modification in which the slide-bars have a longitudinal sliding movement in the supporting-frame, but no lateral movement. Fig. 5 is a front view of Fig. 4 with one of the slide-bars in crosssection.

The leading features of my present invention consist in a number of separately-movable bars supported by a frame in a horizontal position and in close order below the front platform of the car, with their front ends standing beyond and projecting in front of the railing or dashboard across the end of the platform. Each one of these slide-bars is movable longitudinally in the support and on the front end is furnished with a cushioned or soft yielding head to come in contact with a person being struck by the projecting ends of the bars. Each bar while movable backward is also arranged to swing laterally in a limited are on a pivot or center located on the supporting-frame. These two kinds of movements are common to all the slide-bars, but the last mentioned or lateral swinging movement is produced only in those bars which remain in position projecting beyond the front of the platform and not in those bars which are pressed in. XVith all the slidebars having these two movements in the tender is combined mechanism by the operation of which the backward movement of any one or two or more of the slide-bars has the effect to turn or swing into angular position those bars which are not pressed in, and by such lateral movement the bars on either side of the gap or opening left in the line of bars between those standing out and those pushed in are thrown across the front of such opena ing, so as to close in behind the person resting against the heads of the bars that were pushed in by striking the person. Combined with these slide-bars and located at the sides of the car-platform are swinging gates mounted 011 vertical pivots and so arranged for operation with the outer slide-bars of the fender that when those bars which are situated at and near the sides of the car are pushed in the gate on that side will be thrown over across the front of the opening or gap from the gate to the bars that remain in an extended or forwardly-projecting position. Each gate is operated by or from the backward movement of the outermost slide-bar next to it. These parts and mechanism are constructed substantially as follows:

The slide-bars A A A are carried by a supporting-frame composed of a top plank B and a bottom plank B, attached to the timbers of the car-body by trunnions or pivots 12 17 on which the frame is balanced and is arranged to be raised or lowered at the front end to regulate the distance between the ground and the front of the fender. The slide-bars are fitted to slide longitudinally in the frame, one separately of the other, and are also arranged to swing laterally in a limited horizontal are upon a pivot (Z, fixed in the top and bottom planks of the frame, the slide-bar having a long slot a for the pivot in order to allow longitudinal movement.

A is a cushioned head fixed on the front end of each slide-bar of about the same'width of the outer bar, while it is produced directly as the-bar, but extending above and below the line of the bar in a vertical direction. These heads are best formed of spring-metal strips bent into the shape of a flattened loop and covered on the front face with a pad or cushion a The heads of all the slide-bars meet the same vertical length and stand inthe same plane when the slide-bars are drawn forward into working position. Rubber springs or bumpers a are placed behind the head A to take up the shock when the slidebar is pushed in against the supportingframe.

D is a row of ratchet-teeth on the slide-bar, and D a pawl on the frame acting to lock the slide-bar when it is pushed in.

E E are counterbalance-weights on the inner ends of arms E E. These arms are secured to the under side of the plank B, as seen in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, and extend rearwardly under the car-body, sufficient room being afforded in the space under the car-seats for the upwardly-turned ends of the arms and the weights on their ends. The function of these weights is to counterbalance the slide-bars and the parts in front of the pivots b on which the fender-frame B is balanced.

D is a shaft on which the pawls are fixed, and D. is a handle on the end for throwing the pawls out of the racks when the slide-bars are to be set forward.

tally behind and in the same plane with the rear ends of the slide-bars and movable on its support H in a backward direction by the contact and pressure of the slide-bars against it. Grooves h in the support and rollers g on the bar G working in the grooves are employed to keep the bar in position and cause it to move back without binding.

A are inclines or wedges on the innersides of the outermost bars A, against which the bar G is arranged to work. By its backward movement the said bar forces out the rear ends of the slide-bars A and throws inward their outer ends. Such angular movement by the bar G, has the effect to throw the adjacent outstanding slide-bars into angular position also, because the front end of the bar A is thrown around in contact with the head of the bar next to it in the row and the pressure is transmitted by that bar to the next one in the row, and so on along the several bars to the opening or gap in the row.

The position of the slide-bars when set ready for action is represented by the full lines in Fig. 2. The dotted lines in the same figure show the position assumed by the same parts when three of the slide-bars are pushed in.

L L are gates hung on vertical pivots L at the sides of the fender just outside the outermost slide-bars A These gates are arranged to swing forward and close over or in front of the end of the outermost slide-bar and the one next to it in the row when the said bars strike and are pushed in by a person in the way, and this movement of the gate is produced by a pinion k on the post L of the gate and a rack 7t on the side of the slide-bar.

In the slight modification illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawings the lateral or angular movement of the slide-bars is dis pensed with and grapple-arms M, carried by each slide-bar, are employed to close upon the person resting against the front. ends of the slide-bars that are pushed in by striking the person. These arms or rods M are pivoted in grooves in the vertical sides of the slide-bars and are constructed to operate as follows: In the sides of the slide-bars are out two grooves m m one above and parallel with the other, and in one is set the grapplearm M, which is pivoted at M in the groove to turn outward and extend at right angles from the slide-bar, and in the other groove is fixed a pin 19. To the arm M is attached a rod P by a loose or pivot joint 19 of proper length to extend across the space between that slide-bar and the one next to it-in a diagonal position toward the rear. The end of this rod P rests in the groove of the adjacent slide-bar behind the fixed pin 19 in the groove, and the end is furnished with a hook 19 which by the backward movement of the slide-bar carrying the pin 19 is caused to engage the pin and be drawn back with that G is a transverse bar supported horizon bar. The backward movement of one bar thus acts upon the grapple-arm M on the adjacent bar that is not moved in at the time, and thus the grapple M, to which the rod P is attached, is thrown into position across the opening or gap in front of the bar or bars pressed in. There are two grapple-arms attached to each slide-bar, one on each side, and those grapple-arms which are located on the adjacent sides of two bars are pivoted in grooves that are situated at different heights, so as not to interfere one with the movements of the other. Thus the grapple-arm in one slide-bar being pivoted in the upper groove,

the corresponding arm on the adjacent side of the next slide-bar is pivoted in the lower groove of its slide-bar, and the pins to engage the hooks on the ends of the rods P, that draw out the arms M, are located in the grooves directly opposite, into which the rods P extend from their respective grapple-arm's.

The operation of the grapple-arms when several of the fender-arms A are pushed in will be understood from Fig. 4 of the drawings, in which two of the bars are shown pressed back into the position taken by them when theystrike an object, and the grapplearms on the bars that remain standing outside of the opening or gap in front of the pushed-in. bars are thrown across the space.

Between the ends of the bars thus pushed confined with sufficient force or strength to keep him supported until the car is brought to a standstill.

In some cases I fix several stifi springs in the grooves of the slide-bars, as shown at P P Fig. 4, to present points or fingers behind the grapples M to seize and confine the clothing or body of the person and increase the holding or gripping action of the grapples. The fingers are formed of stifi strips or tongues of metal attached at the inner end to the bar and held in working position by a spring.

Having thus fully described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a car-fender, the combination of a frame beneath the front of the car-body, a series of fender-bars mounted in said frame having a separate sliding movement to move longitudinally backward in said frame, and a swinging movement in a lateral direction when not moved inward, yielding heads or cushions on the front ends of said bars, inclines on the outermost bars of the series, a rearwardly movable bar extending transversely across the rear of the fender-bars in line with the ends of said fender-bars and adapted by the contact and backward movement of said bars to throw out laterally the rear ends of the outermost fender-bars, substantially as hereinbefore described for operation as set forth.

2. In a car-fender the combination, with a suitable supporting frame, of a series of fender-bars movable longitudinally and separatelybackward in said frame under pressure applied against their front ends, and also adapted to swing laterally in said frame, cushioned heads on the front ends of said fenderbars, swinging gates on vertical pivots at the outer sides of the frame, racks and pinions connecting the outermost bars of the series with said gates, inclines on the rear ends of said bars, and the transverse bar behind the rear ends of the fender-bars, and between the said outermost bars and adapted to engage the inclines in its backward movement, constructed for operation as set forth.

3. In a car-fender, the combination,with the pivoted frame, slotted fender-bars, bolts confining said bars in the frame and on which they are arranged to slide and pawl-andratchet locking mechanism to each fenderbar, of the swinging gates at the sides of the frame-rack and pinions connecting the outermost bar on each side of the fender with the pivot of the gate, and the transverse bar behind the rear ends of the fender-bars between the outermost bars having a backward sliding movement when pressed in by the fenderbars and adapted to throw outward the rear ends of the outermostbars for operation as set forth.

4. In combination with the longitudinallysliding fender-bars, having grooves in their vertical sides, of the pivoted grapple-arms in the grooves of each fender-bar, the hooked rod loosely attached to each arm and arranged to work in the corresponding groove of the adjacent fender-bar and the fixed pin in said grooves, constructed and combined for operation as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand and seal.

WILLIAM B. HEI'WOOD. [L. 8.] 

